Remote work’s impact on well-being: longitudinal analysis and the influence of gender, household size and childcare

• Date: 05 March 2024
• Pages: 72-84
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-09-2023-0140
• Published date: 05 March 2024
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,HR & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare
• Author: Gabriele Prati

Remote work’s impact on

well-being: longitudinal analysis

and the influence of gender,

household size and childcare

Gabriele Prati

Department of Psychology, Universit

a di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Abstract

Purpose –The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between remote work and subjective well-

being and the potential moderating role of gender, household size and childcare.

Design/methodology/approach –The current research used data from the 2016 and 2020 editions of the

Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) of the Bank of Italy. Italian workers were asked to report their

subjective well-being and how many days per month they work remotely (at the time of the COVID-19

pandemic). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted on a sample of 1.103 and 184

participants, respectively.

Findings –After controlling for the effects of gender, age, education and perceived economic condition,

ordered probit models revealed that the relationship between remote work and subjective well-being was

nonsignificant. Moreover, gender, household size and childcare did not play a moderating role in the

relationship between remote work and subjective well-being.

Practical implications –The findings of the current study suggest that an individualized approach is

required to maximize the possible benefits of remote work.

Originality/value –The potential positive effects of remote work on subjective well-being might be

overestimated.

Keywords COVID-19, Gender, Parental status, Remote working, Working from home, Subjective well-being

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on employment, work organization, working

conditions and employee experiences. One of the most reported organizational changes is the

significant increase in remote work, which was not only recommended but in some cases

mandatory (Tursunbayeva et al., 2022). Here, remote work can be defined as those situations

in which the work is fully or partly carried out in another location away other than the

workplace (Spreitzer et al., 2017). Remote work is a broad concept that includes telework or

telecommuting (an American equivalent for teleworking) that involves the use of landline

telephones or information and communications technology to communicate and carry out the

work remotely (Spreitzer et al., 2017;Wheatley, 2012;Sullivan, 2003).

A wide range of benefits has been attributed to remote work (e.g. Spreitzer et al., 2017;

Wheatley, 2012;Charalampous et al., 2019;Allen et al., 2015). Remote work has been

associated with employees’perceptions of job quality (Kelliher and Anderson, 2008),

organizational commitment (Golden, 2006) and job performance (Bloom et al., 2015;

Gajendran and Harrison, 2007) In their theoretical framework and meta-analysis of 46

studies, Gajendran and Harrison (2007) argued and provided evidence indicating beneficial

effects of remote working on perceived autonomy, work-life balance, job satisfaction,

performance, (lower) turnover intent and (lower) role stress. It is interesting to note that,

contrary to their expectations, a positive effect of remote work on the employee–supervisor

relationship was found, while coworker relationship quality was not affected by remote work.

Also, high-intensity remote work (more than 2.5 days a week) increased the positive

IJWHM

17,1

72

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/1753-8351.htm

Received 27 September 2023

Revised 18 December 2023

30 January 2024

Accepted 5 February 2024

InternationalJournal of Workplace

Health Management

Vol. 17 No. 1, 2024

pp. 72-84

© Emerald Publishing Limited

1753-8351

DOI 10.1108/IJWHM-09-2023-0140